Once & Future 2: The Goddess And The Prince
by shadowglove
Summary: Sequel to A Metahuman In King Uther's Court. When suddenly Morgana is alive and Merlin's GIRLFRIEND, the warlock wants to know what exactly changed in the past. Chloe agrees to go back with Merlin never guessing her blessing Arthur left consequences.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville/Merlin.**

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"Merlin?!?" Chloe gave a little gasp as her good friend, Merlin Emrys, Wizard Extraordinaire, pushed her impatiently throughout the house until they reached the living room. "What's going on?!?"

"That's what _I_ want to know." He announced, stopping once they'd reached the living room of his flat. "I've been having the most _confusing_ memories ever since you went and changed the past, and now, this morning, I found women's clothes in my home."

Chloe turned to him. "What?"

"Also, _this_." He magicked a picture off of the table and passed it to her, showing Chloe a picture of Merlin smiling and obviously having a good time with the most beautiful woman Chloe had ever seen.

Even _Lana_ would be jealous of this woman.

"This is Morgana." Merlin replied when she remained dumbstruck, admiring the woman.

"Morgana?" Chloe blinked. "_Morgana_ Morgana?"

He nodded.

"I thought she was _dead_?" Chloe squeaked.

"I thought so too! But I just got a phone call from her in which she told me that she was going to be helping Lana at Isis since you had the day off, and that I must tell you that she's going to beat you at Uno next Saturday even if she has to use _magic_ to do so."

"She _knows_ me? And she's helping _Lana_?" Chloe sat down, a little winded by this information. "I don't get it. I went back to the past a _month_ ago. Why is it that today all of a sudden things began to change?"

"Chloe. There's only _one_ bedroom in this apartment." Merlin sat down next to her, looking just as confused as she was. "Her _underwear_ was in the sheets."

Chloe blinked, turning to the guy she'd had a crush on for a couple of months. "Oh."

"Don't _oh_ me!" Merlin squeaked. "I'm apparently sleeping with Morgana La Fey! That's _dangerous_! She could _kill_ me if she got angry with me!"

"And how is she still alive?"

Merlin sighed, looking away. "I don't know. But I _do_ know that it has to do with what happened a month ago."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Chloe wanted to know.

"Me? Nothing. _We_? _We're_ going back and we're going to see just _how_ changed Camelot is." Merlin told her, standing up, determined. "We'll go back to my teenage years, when I'm the prince's manservant."

"Are you _insane_?" Chloe stood as well. "I'm not going back! And anyway, don't you think the others will _recognize_ you?"

Merlin smiled, obviously ready for that question.

With a flash of golden eyes, Merlin suddenly transformed into an old man, beard long and white and slightly curly.

Chloe couldn't help giving it a tug.

"Hey!" Merlin complained, pulling his beard from her grasp.

"You look like Dumbledore." She commented, circling him. "But he was better looking than you as an old man."

"Don't make me make you a hag." Merlin threatened.

Chloe cracked her knuckles threateningly at that.

Merlin gulped. "Why is it that despite the fact that _I_ am the almighty wizard I am the intimidated one in this friendship?"

"You're smart?" Chloe chanced a guess, sighing as she looked him up and down. "Who are you supposed to be anyway with that getup? _God_?"

Merlin grinned boyishly.

Chloe sighed, reaching over and ruffling his white hair before shaking her head. "How is it, that despite being the _smart_ one in this friendship, I still let you convince me to do these things?"

"'Cause you like to play with my ears?" Merlin chanced a guess.

"Yeah," she admitted, pinching one. "I kinda do."

They shared a smile before going determined once more.

"Ready?" Merlin asked, grabbing her hand.

"I'm never ready." She confessed. "I'm just _really_ good at improvisation."

Merlin smirked right as his eyes went gold, and for a moment there was nothing, and then they were in the middle of the throne room, in the middle of the day, in the middle of a hearing, apparently.

Everyone turned to look at the two who'd just appeared in the middle of the court hearing, and Chloe had barely gotten over the dizziness of time travel when she heard Nimueh's voice.

"Divinity!"

Chloe winced at the title she hadn't really enjoyed much, as Nimueh arrived at her side and curtsied before turning to Merlin.

"Nimueh, High Priestess," Chloe nodded towards her, motioning to Merlin. "This is my lord and master, Dumbledore."

Merlin sent her a look before turning to Nimueh, looking a little shocked to be facing the person he'd _killed_ in an alternate lifetime. "I have heard much about you, High Priestess."

"Thank you, Eternity. I am most honored and unworthy…" Nimueh kept herself bowed.

Seeing movement, Chloe smiled and went to Uther as he descended from the throne. "My king!" She curtsied, glad she'd been wearing a dress when Merlin had kidnapped her for this trip to the past. "The years have been most gracious on you."

She hadn't ever planned on coming back, but she knew that with her life it was a probability, so she'd done some studying.

Uther smiled, reaching for her hand and giving it a kiss. "Divinity, it is a pleasure to have you grace my court once more. You _and_ your master, a supreme god."

Merlin was looking somewhat uncomfortable under Nimueh's adoration. He managed to nod towards Uther and extract himself from her praise before going to Uther and Chloe. "My _charge_ spoke to me of her time here, and we wished to visit and see how you have prospered."

As Uther bowed to Merlin (whose eyes _might_ have gone wide at the king bowing to him, behaving so _nicely_) Chloe pretended to listen as Uther told Merlin about how Camelot was open to and encouraged magic, and how it was the home of the only magic educational institute in all of Albion.

But really, her attention was drawn towards the doors of the throne room as they were thrown open and the handsomest man she'd ever seen walked through. He was tall and blonde, with the bluest eyes she'd ever seen, skin tanned from time under the sun, and body toned from obvious toil and labor.

Something curled in her stomach, and she couldn't look away as his gaze found hers and kept.

He began walking towards her, and she fought the urge to take a step back.

Obviously the man was coming to see the king…

"Father." Those words froze Chloe as the young man, _Arthur_, stopped in front of them. "I heard the throne room had been breached by unknown visitors and I came as fast as I could."

"Ah, yes, _son_." Uther smiled, clapping him on his back. "We are in the presence of our own guardians, the gods."

Chloe shared a look with Merlin.

"This is the Supreme God Dumbledore, it is _his_ charge whom saved your mother and blessed you all those years ago." Uther motioned to Chloe.

Arthur bowed to Merlin before turning to Chloe. "I wish to thank you, Divinity, for saving the life of my mother that night." He reached for her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing the digits as his blue eyes raised to connect with hers.

Chloe felt a jolt of electricity at his touch, and it was all she could do to keep from jerking her hand out of his

_Calm down girl! This is prince Arthur! Soon to be __King__ Arthur. He is SO out of your league it isn't even __**funny**__!_

Clearing her throat, Chloe nodded and slipped her hand from his. "You have no need to thank me, mortal prince, it was my sacred duty to descend from the Mountain of the Gods and stop something that would end in such tragedy for all."

Chloe knew that it was the _Greek_ gods that had their own _mountain_ (right?) but she actually didn't know much about _Celtic_ gods. So if they didn't have their own celestial mountain…well…they had one _now_.

She looked away from him, turning to Uther, dismissing Arthur as best as she could. If he didn't like her then he wouldn't be around her, or he'd act like the utter _prat_ that Merlin had told her about, and she wouldn't be scared of developing _another_ crush on someone _so_ impossible.

"My King," she smiled. "How is Queen Igraine?"

"She is fine, visiting some friends in Mercia." Uther replied pleasantly. "She will be saddened that she missed your visit." He tilted his head slightly. "Maybe she shall be here _next_ time?"

Chloe understood the invitation as it was.

There wasn't much of an answer she could give him, so she just nodded her head gracefully.

"Would you show us this educational facility?" Merlin asked, voice deep and old, and humorously _regal_.

Uther and Nimueh nodded, showing the way, Merlin following.

Chloe was about to follow when Arthur offered his arm.

She couldn't refuse him in front of the whole court.

The blonde sighed and looped her arm through his. "You don't have to be so attentive, young Pendragon."

_Young_. She snorted in her mind. _He's HOW many centuries older than me_?

"Do gods age very slowly?" Arthur surprised her by asking.

She sent him a confused look. "Why?"

"Because, he is very old." Arthur responded giving Merlin a look. "But you---you are just like the portrait Nimueh had fashioned of you and hangs in the temple of the gods. Many go there and pray to your visage, and many have claimed how you have answered their prayers."

Chloe nearly tripped. "_What_?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I would have thought gods _liked_ homage being paid to their images."

"I---I'm a _lesser_ god." She once again mentally kicked Merlin for getting her in this mess in the first place. "It is Supreme Gods, such as M---_Master_ Dumbledore, who should be adored so."

Okay.

So she was a _little_ evil.

"What is the difference between Supreme and Lesser gods?" Arthur asked quite politely, so far seeming _nothing_ like the man who Merlin had told her about. "What can Lesser gods do?"

"_Lesser_ things." Chloe replied, not even paying attention as Uther and Nimueh brought them to the large, beautiful school of magic, where students were hanging outside, enjoying themselves. "We're---we're much closer to humans, we could be considered the _humans_ of gods."

He eyed her curiously. "The humans of the gods."

"Though, of course, not _human_." She hurried to rectify.

He continued to eye her curiously. "And a Lesser god wears the sort of garment you do?"

Chloe wondered what was wrong with her dress. She'd been about to go out to have fun with Lois, and she'd dressed in a little black dress with black stilettos.

_To think, if Merlin didn't call me saying it was urgent and a matter of life or death if I didn't get to his apartment immediately---I could be having drinks somewhere with Lois right now._

"I wear what pleases me." She looked away, missing the way his gaze lowered and raised on her figure. Her attention, instead rested on a young, gangly and awkward male figure smiling and blushing at a beautiful young woman with blonde black hair and blue eyes.

Merlin and Morgana.

They studied here, together.

Chloe's eyes widened.

"Do you know them?" Arthur's voice broke into her thoughts.

"Do you?" Chloe asked him, curiously.

"I know her." He nodded. "She is the daughter of one of my father's knights and good friend. Morgana is a witch, and studies here at the Academy of Magic."

"But you don't know _him_?" Chloe pointed to Merlin in his youth.

Arthur shook his head. "I see him with Morgana. I believe they fancy each other."

"Oh." Okay, things were making sense now.

When she'd changed the past, Uther had accepted magic, _welcomed_ it, and Merlin had come to Camelot to _study_ magic, and had never become Arthur's servant.

She frowned.

That meant Merlin never became Arthur's friend.

No.

That couldn't be right.

That _couldn't_!

Arthur had been Merlin's best _friend_!

"You should." She turned to Arthur, serious. "Get to know him. You will never find a more genuine or true friend or counselor as Merlin. He is a little naïve, tries to see the good in others, but his heart is pure and you will value his friendship till your dying day."

Arthur watched her oddly before nodding. "I will do as you advise."

She'd been expecting some resistance, some questions, so she was a little shocked at how things had worked out.

"Oh." Chloe nodded, looking ahead of them and realizing that Merlin, Uther and Nimueh had disappeared. "Where are they?"

"You can see the future, Divinity." Arthur wasn't asking, he was telling.

"I might and I might not." Chloe replied lightly, not sure _where_ he was leading them, but when they came upon a private lagoon she realized that it wasn't to catch up with the others. "Why are we here?"

"You saw that my mother would die, you saw what it would do to my father." Arthur let go of her and went to stand by the water, hands clasped behind his back. "Now you tell me to make friends with this _Merlin_." He hesitated. "And upon my blessing you instructed my father that I shouldn't marry a _Gwen_." He finally turned to face her. "Why?"

"Have you met her?" Chloe asked, wondering about the intensity in the question.

The prince shook his head.

"Oh. Okay." Chloe responded, wondering if Gwen was a servant still or if that had changed as well. "I instructed your father to tell you not to marry her, because while you might fall desperately in love with her, and she might love you, she will love another even more than she does you. And you _all_ are going to get hurt."

He continued to eye her. "Do the gods really care that much for us?"

"As I said, I'm not _exactly_ a god." Chloe shrugged, walking to the water's edge and taking off her shoes, sighing in happiness as she stepped into the water shoes in hand.

It was cold, the water, but it was beautiful, and instant relief for the pain for having to walk in rocks with stilettos on.

She breathed out with contentment as she looked around the small, private grove the lagoon was in. It was green and mossy and _magical_, fireflies dancing in the darkness of the enclosed grove.

Wind blew through the leaves, causing the weeping willows to dance.

Her hair did as well, the cool breeze caressing her cheek.

"You know, I didn't have time to admire how _beautiful_ it is here the last time I was here." She admitted, smiling softly. "I was on a mission from M---my Master." She cleared her throat at the near slip up. "I was to save the life of Igraine Pendragon, and stop the Great Purge before it began. If I'd been a couple of seconds late she would be dead, and---and…and this place wouldn't be as happy as it is now."

She remembered that night, hugging herself tighter.

"It is possible, with magic, to dream of someone you have never seen, is it not?"

The question was a strange one, especially when directed to _her_, so she turned towards his, blushing slightly at the intense look on his face as he watched her. "Yes, it is."

Her dressed played with the wind, whipping around her thighs.

"Is it possible, with magic in ones veins, to dream of a _god_?" Arthur took a step into the water, towards Chloe. "Of the celestial kingdom _Isis_?"

Chloe's eyes widened in shock. "_How_---?"

Did Arthur have _magic_?

_He was created by magic…it actually makes sense!_

"How long have you---?" And then Chloe stopped, gasping as he reached her and pulled her close to him so that their bodies were touching. "What are you--?"

"You feel like a woman to me." He whispered, before cupping the back of her head. "You're warm and fit perfectly in my arms…against my body."

"I---I---." Chloe couldn't find _one_ word to say, and she was _sure_ she was blushing horribly at the moment.

"Is it possible to know what you taste like before having tasted you?" Arthur whispered before bringing her towards him and bending slightly to capture her lips in his, plundering her lips and making them _his_ with determined licks and nips.

Chloe didn't even know she was kissing back until her hands lost themselves in his hair, clenching fistfuls of the golden silk, and she arched into him.

Apparently she'd dropped her shoes into the lagoon sometime during the beginning of the kiss.

It was Merlin's calling for her worriedly that brought her back to reality, and she pushed away from Arthur in shock.

When he tried to reach for her again she dodged his hand and _slapped_ him.

"How---how _dare_ you?!" She sputtered, completely in shock and confused as she forgot all about her shoes and rushed passed the surprised prince. "You---you _prat_!" She called behind her, before racing out of the grove, not caring at all that she wasn't acting at all like a goddess should.

Hearing him calling for her, trudging out of the water to come after her, Chloe turned her head and didn't notice Merlin, _her_ Merlin, until she crashed into him.

"What's wrong?" Merlin asked, hands going down on her shoulders, steadying them both.

"Get me out of here _now_!" She hissed, as Arthur broke through the grove.

Merlin looked at Arthur in confusion before his eyes went gold and they were in his living room once more.

"What happened?" Merlin finally asked, disguise melting until he was his usual self.

"He—he _kissed_ me!" Chloe sat down on his sofa.

Merlin blinked. "He…_kissed_ you?" He sat down as well, giving her a little smile. "Wow. He works a _lot _quicker than he used to."

She slapped him in his arm. "This is not _funny_, Merlin!" The blonde whined. "He---Merlin, is Arthur magic?"

"Arthur?" Merlin snorted. "Of course not."

"Then why---?" Chloe turned towards him. "Merlin, he's dreamt of me before. Said…insinuated that he dreamt of me before, told me about _Isis_. Merlin. He _said_ the name_ Isis_."

Merlin's eyes widened. "Impossible!"

Chloe bit her thumbnail nervously. "Do you think that when I _blessed_ him somehow my transferring the healing energy into him triggered something in him? Merlin. He was _created_ from magic."

The warlock, leaned back on the sofa. "That---that very well might be what happened. You might have unknowingly opened up a _connection_ between the two of you."

She whimpered. "And now he thinks—thought---is thinking? What tense do I use in this sort of time-traveling circumstance?"

Merlin contemplated the question without answering.

She glared at him.

He was _no help at all_!

"We're going to have to show him I'm married." Chloe decided. "Wasn't his 21st birthday his officially being named Crowned Prince? We should attend _that_ and he'll realize I'm married to a god who won't like his wife being kissed by some mere human."

Merlin raised an eyebrow at her. "Uh, Chloe? You _do_ realize that you're not married? Right? And definitely not to a _god_."

"I know that." She smirked. "But I'll be married to an _alien_. And how will he know the difference?"

Merlin raised an eyebrow. "You're going to make Clark go back in time with us and pretend that he's your god husband?"

"He's got the skills to pull it off." She defended.

Merlin sighed. "You abuse him too much."

"He's invulnerable. He can handle it." Chloe pouted before resting her head against Merlin's shoulder. "I can't have Arthur thinking we have this connection because of something other than my power triggering something in him. Okay? He needs to get married---to someone who _isn't_ Gwen---and have many _many_ children."

Merlin nodded. "I know."

"Good." Chloe got up.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to Isis to meet your live-in _girlfriend_…see if she remembers anything about her past-life or find out if she's immortal like us for some reason." Chloe gave her friend a small smile. "And then I'm going to hunt for my husband. We have a coronation to crash."

Merlin shook his head as she left, suddenly realizing something. "Hey! Where are your _shoes_?!??"

But she'd already left.

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